Table lamp with no earth..

TPES · May 30, 2011

Just the other day a friend of mine who is a store manager at a big DIY retail store had a customer return a table lamp. It had a big metal body to it but only a 2 core flex to the plug top, it had no earth. He asked me what I thought and I said it is very odd that it doesn't have the earth, in the mean time he said he will refund the customer and take all other lamps from the shelf until he gets an answer... What do you think? Should be earthed shouldn't it? It just seems a very simple and stupid mistake to make by the manufactures

mickys86 · May 30, 2011

Is the lamp low voltage (SELV)

gutterball · May 30, 2011

Is the lampholder plastic or metal? Is it's plastic it will be insulating the lamp from the body.

Deleted member 9648 · May 30, 2011

Does it have the double insulated mark on it?....(small square within a larger square)....if so it meets the requirements for a class 2 fitting and does not need earthing. There are loads of metal cased class 2 fittings,and this is likely to be one. It MUST have the class 2 symbol on it somewhere though,or you have to assume it is class 1 and requires earthing.

savthespark · May 30, 2011

Yeah, I would say thats spot on Wirepuller

mickys86 · May 30, 2011

I was going to say double insulated but the fact it's a metal lamp put me off. I'm sticking with SELV. It's gotta be one of them thou.

truckster · May 30, 2011

If it's for sale it must have a rating plate/sticker. That will tell you if it's Class 2 as wirepuller said. No squares means it's class 1, no rating sticker/plate...can't sell it. Simples!

Deleted member 9648 · May 30, 2011

mickys86 said:
I was going to say double insulated but the fact it's a metal lamp put me off. I'm sticking with SELV. It's gotta be one of them thou.

There's zillions of class 2 metal cased 230v appliances.....it does not have to be selv,just look for the class 2 symbol on the appliance.

mickys86 · May 30, 2011

wirepuller said:
There's zillions of class 2 metal cased 230v appliances.....it does not have to be selv,just look for the class 2 symbol on the appliance.

I wasn't saying you were wrong, I wasn't saying I was right Was just my initial gut feeling. Don't shoot me down. I'm just an apprentice, here to listen to other people's views and try and learn as much as I can. Already learnt somat today!!!! "There's zillions of class 2 metal cased 230v appliances"

Dunc · May 30, 2011

Really don't like this trend in double insulated metal fittings. I still maintain there is the scope for a fault to occur if a cable is damaged during fabrication or by the end user and the casing becomes live. The chances are slim but there is still the chance. How much extra would it really cost to lug an earth to the ruddy casing while they are making the fitting?!